Muslims around the world celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice) which generally falls around July or August. The holiday celebrates Ibrahim’s (Abraham) devotion to God and his willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael in Judaism-Christianity). Ibrahim passes God’s test and a lamb is provided by God to sacrifice instead of Ismail. The Quranic story closely resembles that from the Jewish and Christian tradition in which Abraham is ordered to sacrifice Isaac, who also is saved at the last moment once Abraham proves his devotion to God. In contrast to prior years, this year’s celebrations of Eid al-Adha have come with significant challenges brought on by the coronavirus and ensuing economic hardships. The first three lessons of this course will prepare you to read an RT Arabic article about the economic meltdown in Lebanon and how its Muslim community is struggling to celebrate Eid al-Adha as the price of meat has skyrocketed and many families have had to shift their priorities to basic survival. The vocabulary for the first three lessons contains a mix of religious and economic-related terms. Lessons 4 and 5 take a lighter tone and will prepare you to watch a Youtube video uploaded by the People of the Book channel. In the video, an Israeli rabbi who is fluent in Arabic wishes Muslims around the world an Eid Mubarak and discusses the similarities between Eid al-Adha and the story in the Jewish Torah. In the video, the rabbi seeks to find common ground with Muslims by sharing his interpretation of the story of being about a father’s love for his son, whether that be Ismail (Ishmael) or Ishaaq (Isaac). Some sample vocabulary from course includes: بلا أضاحي – without sacrifices; تدهور ، يتدهور – to sink, deteriorate; فقر مدقع – extreme poverty; سفر التكوين – the Book of Genesis; تفسير – interpretation
